The Seven Cleopatras Who Ruled Egypt

History Unplugged Podcast

History Unplugged

Society & Culture, History

4.2 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 18 June 2024

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Behind the legendary, singular figure of Cleopatra stood six other women who bore her name. The infamous Cleopatra we think we know was actually the seventh queen in a long line of powerful female rulers whose stories have been lost to history. The seven queens named Cleopatra, ruling from 192–30 BC, defied the stereotype of the nameless, faceless women of antiquity and instead challenged the norms of their time.

Today’s guest, Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones unearths the lost stories of all seven monarchs in “The Cleopatras: The Forgotten Queens of Egypt.” Exploring a part of the Hellenistic World often neglected by historians, Llewellyn-Jones brings to life the complicated, tempestuous stories of the seven queens marrying the same man, sending armies into war, and plotting to overthrow their kings for sole rulership.

While each Queen Cleopatra encountered a unique set of challenges and ruled with her own set of strengths, each generation influenced the next, culminating in a powerful dynastic line that ultimately transformed the imperial politics of their house into global politics.

The Cleopatras shines a light on the six influential yet forgotten Queen Cleopatras and reveals how Cleopatra VII, whose real story disappears beneath the weight of all the stereotypes we pin on her, should be remembered as a consummate politician who learned from the generations of women before her.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Scott here with another episode of the History and Plugged podcast.
0:07.0	Cleopatra was the final ruler of an independent Egypt in the Roman era
0:12.0	and she held absolute power over what was the wealthiest country on earth of the time.
0:16.0	Her life was incredibly dramatic, she was the lover of Julius Caesar, wife of Mark Antony,
0:21.1	caught up in the whirlwind of Roman political drama, and it's no wonder
0:24.0	that Shakespeare chose to make her life the subject of one of his dramas.
0:28.0	But what if you know is that there were actually seven Queen Cleopatra's, the one we all know is the final one to bear that name, but 7 of these
0:34.9	royal women ruled from 129 BC up to 30 BC.
0:39.4	Because Egyptian Royals heavily intermarried within their families, Cleopatra's family tree is more of a
0:43.8	straight branch and it gets all the more complicated with family drama going around, with
0:47.7	daughters sleeping with their mother's second husbands, sisters marrying the same man, and
0:51.5	more. But overall what we see in the life of Cleopatra the 7
0:54.9	is one of the shrewdest politicians in the ancient world.
0:57.8	To explore this Egyptian dynasty as today's guest,
1:00.8	Lloyd Lulin Jones, author of the Cleopatra's The Forgotten Queens of Egypt.
1:05.0	We look at the backdrop of their stories,
1:07.0	which includes a culture clash of the Ptolemy dynasty
1:10.0	which ruled Egypt at the time,
1:12.0	a Greek-speaking ethnic Greek family that ruled Egypt,
1:15.0	why many of these stories have been written out of history and how this all adds to our understanding of the ancient world.
1:20.0	Hope we enjoy this suggestion with Lloyd Lulam Jones.
1:25.0	And one more thing before we get started with this episode,
	...

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